


Not all heroes are chosen ones

by daraenss



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blood and Violence, Dragons, F/M, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Learning to trust, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Prophecy, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:28:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29640228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daraenss/pseuds/daraenss
Summary: The Kingdom of Galar had always been reigned by peace, but beneath the lives of the citizens of all species—from mermaids to dragons and many more—, an ancient oracle revealed a prophecy that would haunt them for centuries.When the dark lord crawls through our roads, a king and a witch would team up to annihilate him.To do so, they would kill a herbomancer, a mermaid, an ever-burning man, a warrior whose limbs would never falter, a fairy, a person built from rocks and their relative, built from ice, a pair of wizards and a dragon.Sonia is the granddaughter of the Great Witch Magnolia, and they lived in Wedgehurst Village alongside other witches. Born with great abilities, she was raised to become the witch of the prophecy alongside King Leon. But when they’re about to carry out their fate, a certain meeting changed their lives in a way they could never imagine.
Relationships: Kibana | Raihan/Sonia
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	Not all heroes are chosen ones

**Author's Note:**

> Keep in mind that this fic could contain violence, so if despictions of blood trouble you in any way, please refrain from reading.
> 
> This is a Fantasy AU, so it could also contain sensitive topics since they live in a medieval-like setting.

“Great Witch Magnolia, they’re here.”

The voice of a woman echoed all around the small house, where the wooden wall let tiny rays of sunlight slip through to the inside. From the second floor, an old woman hit the oak floor with her gold and silver cane, which had a golden sphere at the top; the elder’s eye had seen many things in many ages, so her wisdom was stored on the deep wrinkles spread all over her pale face. Even her freckles started to vanish, but her diligence stayed the same. Without wasting any more time, she walked down the stairs with tiny, weak steps, as she fixed her hair strands that started to get on her sight.

As she stood on the first floor, she glared at the woman who had called her, and closed her eyes. “You’ve always been my best assistant,” she murmured to her, loud enough so she could hear her compliment. “Sonia must be in her room, bring her to me.”

Her assistant nodded as she walked away from the window, and went to look for the aforementioned person as Magnolia only looked up, just to sigh and lower her gaze again. In the blink of an eye, her assistant came back, grabbing the hand of a young girl who was probably seven or eight years old, whose red hair stood out like the evening sky, with freckles that looked like the constellations painted in the highest of places and a pale skin, like the morning light making the world shine. She had the entire sky painted on her features. Magnolia approached her and smiled tenderly when the little girl raised her arms to be held by the woman.

“My dear Sonia…” she said as she gave her the cane, so she could grab her with her empty hands. “Today’s a very important day, not for me, but for you.”

After grabbing the cane, Sonia looked at it with delight for the brightness of the materials that composed the object, and for the meaning it carries. Grandma’s cane has always been special. Not only was it an ancient heirloom, it was also the physical proof of one’s strength—her strength as a Great Witch. Every Great Witch had wielded that cane for centuries, and not even the hottest fire, or the biggest ocean waves or the sharpest wind blows could make a scratch on it. The cane was powerful on its own, and it’s said to embody the most dear thing to one’s soul. Sonia wondered what was inside her Grandma’s cane.

Magnolia, who didn’t want to make her guests wait any longer, approached the front door and opened it widely, staring at the people who had dared to step in her house. The first thing that caught her eye was the large number of knights that wore those iron armors, bearing the brand of the Royal Chivalry of Wyndon, with the flag of the Royal Family waving above their heads. On the front row, a woman with mahogany skin and purple hair, wearing a beautiful dress was staring at the Great Witch, and she was grabbing a little kid, physically similar to her, was trying to put all his focus on the situation at hand.

“Is that him, Your Majesty?” Magnolia asked.

“Yes,” replied the woman. “Please, kneel down to Prince Leon of Wyndon, the first in line for the throne and, most importantly, my son.”

Just as the woman said that, all the knights behind her followed her order, kneeling down to the kid, making their armors clash and clink with themselves, lowering their gazes in respect for the prince who seemed completely lost. Magnolia put Sonia on the floor, and after murmuring her to kneel down, she did; the Great Witch, however, was too old for that, so only tilted her back slightly to the front, it was the best thing she could do.

“I salute you, Great Witch Magnolia,” said the Queen. “The witches of Wedgehurst Village had always been loyal to the crown, so whatever you need shall be granted by the forces of the Kingdom of Galar. We will recruit every race—mermaids, herbomancers, wizards, magicians, fire-borns… even dragonkind, for you.”

Magnolia raised her head to look at the Queen, who only nodded at her slowly. After a few seconds, the Great Witch took her cane from Sonia’s hands and turned to see her assistant, who was waiting patiently inside the house. A simple gesture was all she needed to understand her order of organizing a fine table with some cups of freshly made Wedgehurst Tea.

“Come inside, Your Majesty,” Magnolia said. “And you too, Your Highness, Prince Leon.”

The Queen stared at the knight that stood beside her and asked him to accompany them inside, and after he gave a positive answer, both the Prince and her started walking towards the house, climbing up the wooden stairs that lead to the entrance. Magnolia and Sonia stepped away so they could enter, and the assistant guided them to the table. After everything was set, Magnolia grabbed her granddaughter’s hand and entered the house, closing the door behind them.

“Something really important must have happened for you to call the Royal Family, Magnolia.” Now that the salutations had come to an end, the Queen let herself speak without the formalisms that her title asked for. “After all, Wedgehurst Village had always managed to solve its problems independently. You’re a great leader to them.”

“Thank you for your compliments, Your Majesty,” Magnolia replied, smiling at the woman and seating in front of her, taking the cup of tea served by her assistant. In front of the table, the mighty knight was looking at them. “But this is more serious, and it involves the whole region…”

On the back of the house, the little Prince was looking at the beautiful arrangement of flowers, chosen by hand by the Great Witch Magnolia. He seemed lost, overwhelmed by the journey or simply bored of his obligations as a prince, but no matter the answer, he forgot about everything when a small ray of thunder fell down one of the leaves. He gave one step back, and quickly noticed the chuckle of the Great Witch’s granddaughter who was standing behind him.

“Did I scare you?” she asked, smiling with a mischievous smirk on her face. “My granny taught me that trick.”

“Woah, that was amazing!” The boy, who was scared a second ago, was now smiling from ear to ear as he turned around to see the witch who was around his age. “What else can you do?”

“The usual, you know…” she replied, making a gesture with her hand, moving her fingers with superiority. “Thunder magic, transmutation, herbomancy, familiar summoning…”

“ _That’s_ the usual?” Leon chuckled. It was his first time hearing some of those words, but that girl seemed like an expert on it. “Your name is…?”

“Sonia,” she said. “Just Sonia. I don’t have a fancy title.”

“I see. Well, I’m Leon,” he said afterwards. “Just Leon. You don’t need to say my fancy titles.”

After a loud laugh from the two, they shook hands as their introductions came to an end. But still, they didn’t have too much time to chat about stuff, because the Queen suddenly stood up from her chair, with eyes wide open and eyebrows raised in disbelief for something she just heard.

“A prophecy? That makes no sense, Magnolia…” she mumbled, trying to keep her voice down so she wouldn’t alarm her son. Her knight and Magnolia’s assistant stood in front of the two, blocking the view. “The king and the witch would annihilate a sorcerer? That’s senseless. The magicians from Spikemuth haven’t caused any trouble for us.”

“Our enemies aren’t from Spikemuth,” Magnolia clarified. “And this prophecy has existed for centuries, even before I was alive! An ancient oracle once predicted the events that are happening right now, and it perfectly matches its description of the events.”

“What did it say again?”

“ _When the dark lord crawls through our roads, a king and a witch would team up to annihilate him._ _To do so, they would kill a herbomancer, a mermaid, an ever-burning man, a warrior whose limbs would never falter, a fairy, a person built from rocks and their relative, built from ice, a pair of wizards and a dragon._ ”

Magnolia took the sphere that decorated her cane and put it on the table, and after tapping it a couple of times, the sphere started to display some images from different locations in the kingdom—ancient stone tablets with messages that, when put together, spelled the prophecy that she had just spoken.

“Do you think that’s how my husband died, Magnolia?” After closing her eyes for a few seconds, the Queen sighed. “He was on the battlefield. Everyone died, except for a messenger that bore a letter from him. Their enemies wielded weapons that pierced through our strongest warriors, and some of them did things we’ve never seen in the kingdom. The messenger died a few days later from an unknown cause.”

“I cannot say anything for sure, but I would theorize it has something to do with this. It was an omen,” Magnolia put the sphere back on the top of the cane, leaning it on her chair. “That’s why I asked to see you, and your son. I think Sonia and Leon are the key to the future of Galar.”

The Queen sat down again, meditating the situation in complete silence with a calmer expression this time. Her hands were resting on her lap as her gaze lowered at her feet, looking at her elegant shoes. Once she made her mind, she looked at the Great Witch with those golden, piercing eyes that only a noble could have… or a witch.

“I don’t want Leon to die,” she declared, but before the Great Witch could say anything, she spoke again. “But, at the same time, I would die with regrets if I let evil crawl through my kingdom even though I had the power to stop it, so… I accept your offer. I will train Leon to be not only the best king, but our best protector.”

Magnolia smiled at the lady. “So, we have a deal?”

“We do.”

“Great,” Magnolia stood up slowly from her chair, with some difficulty due to her advanced age. “I will train Sonia too.”

“For the future of Galar, Great Witch.”

* * *

As the leaves fell off the ground and the naked trees were stripped away from their colorful beauty, so did the years as time passed. The tickling of the clock not only brought maturity, but also came with a heavy sack of losses, some heavier than others. But feelings like the emptiness of an unfilling void could not be understood in her time by some people, younger than others, and the slow, but consistent flow of time didn’t leave a trace of such mournful events. Just like every new spring didn’t leave behind the traces of fall.

The tiny village inside Wedgehurst Forest, in which the witches lived in, was as peaceful as ever, seeing many generations of people grow and turn into the best version of themselves. On the top of the hierarchy of the witch community, a wise, old witch stood proudly with a cane as ancient as time itself, but without a single scratch. The Great Witch Magnolia was revered by many and feared by others, since legends said that her power could destroy entire kingdoms if unleashed. But, luckily for everyone else, she was the peaceful ruler of Wedgehurst Forest, who spent her days guiding her granddaughter in the path of witchery.

“Sonia, we’re short on medicinal herbs. You should go look for some to have them stored for, at least, one month.”

Magnolia tapped the empty, wooden crates with her crane as she ordered her granddaughter, who just nodded as she grabbed a sack to carry them from the deep parts of the forest to the village. Her orange hair shone on her back, long and powerful, just like fire itself. Sonia had grown up being a role model for the village; not only she had been friends with the King of Galar since they were children, she was also the protagonist of a famous prophecy that ran through the ears of many. Running her grandmother’s errands was the least she could do as a ‘heroine’, as she called herself sometimes.

Without wasting a single moment, Sonia got out of the house and stretched her arms in the sky and then, she fixed some frills on her long, green dress. Even if she lived in a tiny village, her attires were so fancy that she could easily be mistaken by a woman of noble birth, since those fancy, tailor-made dresses could only be found in Wyndon, and the precious gems glowing on the decorations of her chest in some of her dresses were so expensive, that she couldn’t afford one, not even in a thousand lives. Still, King Leon was really generous when it came to Sonia, always giving her new clothes when he came to visit her at the village; and also, how could she refuse a gift from the King?

As she looked around, she saw the figure of a girl, much younger than her, whose short, brown hair hid her face as she was practicing some spell on a bug. Sonia looked at her in silence, standing behind her, curious as to what she was up to. Soon enough, and after the girl murmured an enchantment, the bug grew bigger and bigger, so big that the girl had no other option than to squeeze it in fear before it was too late. In that moment, Sonia sighed.

“You missed the last part of the spell, Gloria,” she said, making the girl turn around to see her. Gloria’s eyes were opened wide in awe of being caught like that. “The spell calls for a limit, so if you don’t finish casting the final lines of the spell, it will grow as big as the universe, since you never told it to stop.”

Gloria ended up chuckling to herself as scratch behind her neck, trying to think of an apology for her. “I’m sorry, teach! I’ll make sure to remember that next time!”

After making a gesture with her hand to talk down the situation, Sonia shrugged. “It’s okay, we’re all here to learn, aren’t we? And you can just call me Sonia, there’s no need for fancy names.”

Even if Gloria was used to calling her ‘teach’, she nodded in agreement seconds after. Not only Sonia was a lot older than her—probably in her twenties— but she also accepted to teach her the secrets of magic. When the issue was resolved, Gloria put a hand on her hip as she looked at her mentor.

“So, what are you doing outside?” Gloria asked. “Our lesson is starting soon, so you should be preparing everything.”

“Right, about that…” Sonia looked away for a second, twisting her lips down. “Today’s lesson is going to be different. You see, this time I wanna make sure you can identify some herbs in real life; after all, no matter how much you know, if you can’t put it into practice, it’s useless.”

Upon receiving the news, Gloria joined both hands, clapping them together once with glee, and without needing Sonia to tell her, she went to grab her big, old bag in which she carried her things, and went back to Sonia, reporting her presence while putting one hand on her forehead.

“All ready!” Gloria exclaimed.

When the two were reading to leave, Sonia guided her to the south of Wedgehurst Village, and the road was darkened by the shadows of the enormous trees that covered them from the burning Sun. The trip was quiet at first, until Sonia decided to break the ice.

“Postwick Village is this way, isn’t it?”

“Ah… yes!” Gloria nodded. “But if my mom sees me, she’ll probably think that I was kicked out of the program and I’ll be grounded for life.”

“This is not really a ‘program’, you know… I’m only teaching you the basics of magic so you can go to a proper Academy in the future. But I think you’re ready to be sent off to learn magic with your actual skills.”

“No!” Sonia replied instantly, shaking her head to the sides. “I’m actually having so much fun. I just think that your skills will get you far in a real place for magic, instead of this little village of us.”

“Are you kidding me? Wedgehurst is the perfect place for a witch to learn! There are interesting things to do everyday, and not only we have Ms. Magnolia’s aid, we also have _you_!”

Sonia rolled her eyes with a dumb smile on her face. All her life was a story of being pampered with compliments about her status as a heroine—even though she hasn’t really done anything yet—, so hearing it again was both monotonous but flattering at the same time. She knew about her reputation in and outside of Wedgehurst, but she didn’t let her fame take away her kindness.

As they walked through the forest some more, to the point where the road was no longer guided and their only aid was the markings on the trees, Sonia stopped. She looked from side to side, until her eyes caught sight of some flowers that were growing behind the bushes; and after approaching them, squatting down, she turned to see Gloria, and told her that the area contained what they were looking for, so she should start looking around. Then, she saw the herbs again, but when she extended her arm to grab them, she noticed a small object laying on the side—it was a shiny, sharp dagger, whose cutting edge didn’t seem to be made of iron, but of something sturdier.

She stared at the dagger for a second, deciding whether or not she should grab it, but no matter the answer, time tickled fast enough to the point where it was useless. As she was making her mind, she noticed that the dagger started to shake on the ground, slightly, up and down. Suddenly enough, Sonia noticed that not only the dagger was shaking, but the whole ground.

_An earthquake!?_

“Sonia!”

Gloria exclaimed, grabbing onto a tree so she didn’t fall down. Sonia also hugged the tree by her side, preventing her from sprankling an ankle or something, for all the time the earthquake lasted. Fruits fell from the sky, alongside small animals that lived in the tree branches, and it almost fell as if the trees were going to break down too. Some minutes after, the shaking ceased and Sonia was able to let the tree off again, and as she turned around, Gloria had already approached her, with eyebrows raised and both hands close to her chest, feeling the rapid beating of her own heart.

“Sonia, are you okay?!” Gloria asked, trying to catch her breath.

Sonia sat on the ground, looking at the girl in front of her and, in a split second, she noticed a pair of shiny eyes lurking in the deep, dark forest behind Gloria. They moved like lightning, or maybe Sonia was too tired to react quickly, but in a manner of seconds, those eyes revealed the form of a man raising a dagger as he looked at Gloria. Sonia didn’t hesitate when she took the dagger behind her and stood up quickly, pushing Gloria to the side and stabbing the shiny dagger on the man’s chest. The man took a deep breath, opening his eyes, but the air could never reach his lungs, as his legs became weaker until he fell to the ground on his knees, and after some seconds, he fell down, leaving that mortal body on the deepest side of the forest, as the two women looked at each other for a while, waiting for him to say something or, at least, move; but he never did and never will.

While Gloria approached Sonia, hiding her face on her chest as she cried from the fear of almost dying, Sonia stroked her hair, trying to comfort her, but on her mind there was another thought reigning over everything else— _Did I just really kill someone?_ she thought, as she lowered her gaze to the dagger on her right hand, which was now dripping fresh, red blood of a real human being. There was no doubt that the man was dead, and that she was the one who ended his life, and the idea of being a murderer—even in self-defense— was killing her inside. She threw away the dagger and took Gloria’s wrist, running away from there to the village. Her heart was beating fastly; not only she was being tortured by the thought of having murdered someone, but also she had to deal with Gloria later, she couldn’t leave her crying like that, not in a thousand years.

As their feet approached Wedgehurst again, she could hear voices from the village loudly enough, which only made her body feel loose, maybe due to a presage from her own limbs, or maybe it was her intuition or paranoia that told her that something was wrong.

And something was very, very wrong.

They ran closer to the village, and the voices turned into screams of horror—men, women, even children! When the little road led them to the entrance of the village, they weren’t welcomed by the peacefulness that her town was used to. Instead, the clashing sound of swords swinging against one another and the cries of war of men echoed in the town. Gloria raised her head to the disaster assaulting their tiny, little village: people running away, looking for shelter, and many men running towards the houses, taking people out and fighting them to death. As she made up her mind, she touched Sonia’s shoulder.

“I’m gonna look for Ms. Magnolia!” She exclaimed, and before Sonia could say anything, she ran towards the house of the Great Witch.

Sonia took a deep breath as she entered the village, sprinting to the nearby houses to take the people out so they could seek shelter elsewhere. The people followed her commands to the letter, and after taking a family out of their home, she heard a dry scream coming from behind the house. She walked in the direction of the sound and saw a man with dark skin and a pair of horns on his head; but even if those horns were weird on their own, Sonia didn’t pay too much attention because she also noticed that he was about to be attacked by some bandits who had in their hands the same type of dagger that she came across in the forest, and the same that the man she killed was trying to use to attack Gloria. Just as they raised their hands to stab the wounded man, leaning against the house, Sonia approached them from behind and, after casting a spell under her breath, she grabbed them by their wrists; due to the spell, her hands released some lightning sparks upon making contact with them, electrocuting the bandits to the point of falling on the ground behind her. Sonia helped the wounded man get up, and when she pointed him to a safe place to run away, he shook his head, clenching his teeth and frowning in pain.

“I must… continue fighting…”

He murmured, before coughing a little. Sonia tried to grab him, but he threw off her arm in order to approach the bandits that laid on the floor. He extended his arm towards them, and that’s when Sonia noticed the long claws on both of his hands. His nails looked sturdy, as if they were unbreakable, and it was confirmed when he raised his hands and stabbed his attackers with both hands. Sonia closed her eyes when she heard the splashing sound of the blood splattering, and their screams of pain echoed against the wall; the witch remained like that for some seconds, until the man in front of her stepped towards her, extending his arm.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Sonia opened one eye, noticing his bloody hand that stinked like iron. Upon tilting her head upwards, she finally analyzed the figure that she just saved. He was incredibly tall, a lot more than the usual men she met, and the sides of his head were covered in scales, just like his arms that resulted in those claws. Even if he had a scary stance, with blood dripping from his hands, his eyes reflected the most gentle, deep blue she had ever seen, alongside those horns that degraded from orange to black, curving on top of his head. Sonia stared at him in silence for quite some time, until she shook her head, putting her feet on the ground again, or so to speak.

“I’m fine…” she murmured, before turning around to see the rest of the village. “Are there more bandits left?!”

Raihan put his bloody hand on Sonia’s shoulder, staining her white dress and looking at her. “I think those were the last ones, we took care of the… rest…”

But as he finished the sentence, his knees betrayed him and he fell down, putting a hand on the wound on his stomach. Sonia turned to him and put one hand on his back, and with the other, she helped him stand up to guide him out of there. As they were walking through the village, Sonia noticed countless of people, physically similar to Raihan, sheltering with the witches of Wedgehurst until Raihan looked at them, smiling faintly; as he did that, the dragonkind guided the witches to their own homes, since all threats had been eliminated, apparently.

Sonia guided him to her grandmother’s house, pushing the door open with a shoulder and entering with the wounded man clinging onto her. Inside, she saw Gloria and her grandmother standing wary of any bandit, but when they saw her, their gazes became more peaceful. Gloria ran towards them, helping Sonia to put Raihan on one of the beds.

“Oh, Gods…” Gloria murmured, looking at his wounds, while Raihan just laid, closing one eye. “This is terrible… Ms. Great Witch, take a look.”

Gloria stepped back so Magnolia could look at him, raising his shirt to the chest and examining the wound, profound enough to make him bleed like a fountain. Magnolia grabbed an old shirt and wrapped it around Raihan’s stomach to prevent the bleeding from worsening. After that, Magnolia and Gloria left to look for some medicine for him, and Sonia was the one in charge of taking care of him. She kneeled down by the bedside, with her eyebrows raised in utter worry, and the man just raised one hand—still bloody— and gently caressed her cheek, as he smiled weakly.

“Hey, girlie…” he muttered. “Thank you.”

“No, no! I mean, you… you were the one who beat them!” Sonia replied, leaning towards him. He was sweating intensively, maybe due to his wounds, so Sonia quickly took off his shirt to let the breeze refresh his body. He let her do whatever she wanted because, either way, he was too weak to do something for himself. “What happened?! Why did you… why did those bandits… What’s going on?!”

Those were many questions to answer at the time, but even so, Raihan looked at the roof and took a deep breath to organize his thoughts. Just when he was about to speak, Magnolia came back with a bowl full of a liquid, probably sap, that she started to apply in Raihan’s wounds. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, since the pain of the contact was too much for him, and also, the coldness of the liquid was messing his temperature. Sonia looked for a small towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and cleaned one of his hands to grab him tightly, so that he could squeeze her if the pain was too much. Just seeing the sap invading through his flesh seemed hurtful enough, so she could only imagine the pain he was going through. After some seconds of painful panting, the man managed to breathe once again, relaxing the muscles on his face and opening his eyes slightly, meeting Sonia’s gaze, who was looking at him intensively, grabbing his hand with one of hers and stroking his cheek with the other.

“What a great view to wake up to,” he joked, closing his eyes again. “If Ms. Worried Brows can take her eyes off me, I can tell you everything I know.”

“My name is Sonia,” she clarified, frowning at him and standing up. 

The man sat on the bed, still grabbing the old shirt against his wound and looking at the three women. “My name is Raihan, and I’m a dragonkind.”

When he said those words, silence reigned in the Great Witch’s house. Magnolia and her granddaughter looked at each other without saying a single word, but Gloria was the one who broke the ice.

“Dragonkind? What’s that?”

Magnolia turned her eyes over Gloria, as if she were scolding her with her gaze. Still, the question had already been answered, so it’s not like she could just ignore it. Upon tapping the floor with her cane, a book flew from its shelf and to Magnolia’s hands. “The dragonkind are one of the numerous species that live in the Kingdom of Galar. The earliest mention of them go back to an ancient legend which depicted a romance between a dragon and a human, and they created this hybrid species between the two, that now inhabit Hammerlocke Hills.” The Great Witch was reading the words written on the book in front of her, and after going through the basics of her explanation, she closed it and looked at Gloria. “But the diversity of species is what makes our kingdom so beautiful, and he’s a person in his own right.”

When Sonia looked at Raihan, she noticed his nervous smile, and she could perfectly understand the reason. Her grandmother, even if she was talking about acceptance to other species, still spoke with that conventional manner, making him seem as if he were a guinea pig. Sonia smiled warmly at him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“So, Raihan,” Sonia said, interrupting her grandmother. “Is everyone else okay? I saw the way you were looking at them on our way here.”

On the inside, Raihan was forever thankful for her intervention, but could only express it with a soft smile, looking at her in the eyes. It was as if the world around them didn’t exist at the moment. “For what I’ve seen, they are fine. Most of us managed to escape, but right now, Hammerlocke Hills is invaded and we can’t go back.”

Sonia opened her eyes in awe upon that revelation, turning her gaze at her grandmother, looking at her with those big, begging eyes. Magnolia understood the message perfectly, and tapped Gloria’s shoulder. “On behalf of the Great Witch Magnolia, tell our people to welcome the dragonkind in their homes, feed them, heal their wounds and treat them like the finest guests until they have a place to go back to.”

For a split second, Sonia could see Raihan’s eyes crystalize in disbelief for her kindness, but quickly toughen his sight again.

“But why didn’t you fight back? Did all of you came running all the way from Hammerlocke?” Sonia asked.

“We’re not fighters,” Raihan replied, stretching his neck and then rolling his shoulders. “That’s just a dumb stereotype Galarians have for us after comparing us to animals for many years. The dragonkind are peaceful, you know…”

“I believe you, don’t worry,” Sonia reassured him, stroking his naked shoulder. “But you were the only one fighting back.”

“Someone needs to protect the people.”

Magnolia nodded, smiling at his words, since she also understood the feeling of having to protect the others. She reads some paragraphs in her book, and after squinting her gaze at a certain part of the text, she raised her head to the dragonkind. “May I speak to you about your wound, Raihan?”

“Sure.”

“In private.”

When Magnolia said that, she turned around to see her granddaughter, ordering her to leave them alone without saying a single word. After apologizing, Sonia stepped back and walked to the second floor, where she couldn’t hear a word of their conversation. Still, she could notice how her grandmother took out a blade, similar to those that the bandits used—including the one she killed— and told him something as she pointed the blade. Their conversation didn’t drag for too long, and she folded the dagger in a towel and kept it on top of the shelves, where no one of them could reach. After that, she pushed Raihan to lay down on the bed and grabbed him a blanket; Sonia didn’t need to hear them to know that her grandmother was asking him to rest, and then the Great Witch left.

Sonia looked at Raihan from the second floor, and then her gaze turned to the dagger her grandmother had hid from their reach. She had seen that blade before, and she also noticed that the blade had something weird about it, but that was not the thought that was bugging her mind. What troubled her was a different thought.

_The only thing that could wound a dragon is another dragon, fairy magic or sheer cold._

And Wedgehurst had plenty of ways of identifying fairy magic, so that option was immediately dismissed. The only possible alternative was that the blade had some connection to dragons—but the dragonkind were the ones under attack, so…

“I will come back in the night,” she mumbled to herself as she walked to her own room. Interrogating Raihan right now was both selfish and dangerous for Raihan, who needed to rest like his life depended on it.

* * *

As the night took over the realm on the skies that belonged to the ardent Sun during the day, Sonia had already made her move on the matter at hand. Wearing the thickest socks she could find, so her footsteps wouldn’t be heard, she stepped out of her room in the top floor and walked down the wooden stairs—hoping that their continuous cracking wouldn’t wake her grandmother up— and approached the bed, beside the window, in which Raihan was laying. The soft, white moonlight illuminated his body in a soft glow while his closed eyelids gave away the most peaceful look; he had been sleeping all day, but even so, he was tired enough to wake up. Sonia kneeled down to his side, lifting the blanket up to check how his wound was doing, but before she could lift his shirt, Raihan grabbed her by the wrist with some force, stopping her in the act.

“Gotcha,” he said as he looked at her, smirking and winking at her.

“Eep!” Sonia screeched as she tried to free her hand from his grab. “I thought you were sleeping…”

“I was,” he replied. Sonia noticed how a pair of fangs stood out on his teeth as he spoke. “But a dragonkind always sleeps with one eye open.”

Sonia sighed, releasing that tension that had gathered in her chest for being scared like that. She stood up to look for a chair to sit beside him, and when she did, Raihan sat on his own bed, winning in height tremendously. In the process, Raihan had lowered his shirt to cover his wounds that were now wrapped with a proper medical band that was absorbing the blood effectively, preventing him from bleeding out; likewise, the sap that Ms. Magnolia had applied his wounds was also doing wonders, since Raihan now could even bend over to sit down without clenching his teeth in pain.

“How are you doing? Still in pain?” Sonia asked when Raihan sighed.

“I’m not,” he responded quickly after. “Your grandma told me to not touch anything, but I feel like I’m doing better.”

Shortly after saying that, he grabbed the blanked and covered his body with it, only leaving his head visible, and Sonia took notice of that, so she stood up to take out another blanket from one of the drawers. She approached Raihan and wrapped him with that new blanket that they used in winter.

“Is it true, then? Dragons don’t like the cold,” Sonia questioned as she covered him in that warm blanket.

“Pretty much. That’s why we live at surface level, because we would die in the mountains, even though it is safer.”

“I see… That sounds logical, I think.”

“Sonia.” Raihan’s voice turned serious quickly after, and when she met his gaze, those oceanic eyes of his seemed to be drowning in questions, seeking answers in a lost sea. “Why did you help us? Why are the witches so… welcoming to us? Why are you letting us into your homes, giving us food, medicine, beds, safety? That doesn’t make any sense. We’re strangers, all of us.”

As he was saying those words, Sonia walked towards her chair and took a seat as she listened to him. Her head ended up slightly tilting to the side, and her frown deepened while the confusion invaded her expression. The moonlight illuminated her body perfectly, letting Raihan see the brilliance in those sky-blue eyes of her, while Sonia could only see his silhouette in the dark. That slim, yet well-built body, whose wide shoulders made him look especially svelte; and, on top of that, his pair of horns that had a slight orange on them, curving his head and then pointed at the sky gave the look of the real wonders that were waiting outside of Wedgehurst Village. As her grandmother said, the diversity of Galar made it beautiful. All those people of different skin colors, races, faces and even languages gave the kingdom the majesty it deserved. And Sonia wanted to meet all kinds of people, regardless of their differences, because, in the end, they all lived under the same sky.

“The Dragonkind are the most hated species in the kingdom,” Raihan added shortly after. His rusty voice had some resentment on it, and his fangs glowed with the moonlight. “We’ve been humiliated, marginalized, treated like worthless animals, to the point that we had to hide far away from society.”

“I know what the people think of you,” Sonia replied. This time, she let the seriousness of the situation show on her face. “The Great Witch Magnolia is a generous person, and she raised all of us the same way as her. We do not condone any discrimination done by humankind, and I assure you, in my grandmother’s name, that the rest of your kind will be safe in here.”

Raihan’s heavy breathing was soon put to rest by Sonia’s words of kindness. He could see in her a certain spark in her eyes, a light that could convince even him, so he lowered his shoulders and seeked the warmth of those blankets that were covering his whole body.

“I came here to talk to you,” Sonia said afterwards, putting a hand on the bed to lean towards him, so she could lower her tone of voice. “What happened at Hammerlocke Hills?”

“Bandits. They’re often seen in the hills, trying to steal from us to get some easy money. Dragonkind’s horns are expensive as hell, and let’s not talk about the scales,” Raihan replied, putting one of his hands on his horns, touching it as he talked about the worth they have. “But these bandits were different. They didn’t want our wealth, but our lives. They didn’t even take the horns from the people they killed there. It was a genocide, so we had no option but to escape. We couldn’t let any more people die, and since all the routes connected to a town, we ran through the forest until we got here. I’m sorry I put your people through this.”

Sonia shook her head when he apologized, trying to soothe the anxiety that was killing him inside. Even if she had never experienced something like that, she could empathize with his pain and fears—not only he saw his people dying and his town being destroyed, but right now, he had to adapt to a life in a new place, with people he had never seen, not knowing if he should trust them due to many years of discrimination. That was too much, even for a man like him, so Sonia was doing all in her power to be patient with him. It was the least she could do for him, not only as the Great Witch’s granddaughter, but hopefully, as a friend.

“I don’t think those are simple bandits, you know.” Sonia stood up to walk around his bed, trying to order her train of ideas that was quickly coming through her brain. “Witches and fairies live in the forest, so we know how to identify fairy magic, and their weapons didn’t have any of that. But I saw one of their weapons—a dagger that I found in the forest before I arrived. The blade was sturdier than iron, almost like…”

“... Dragon’s scales…?” Raihan intervened, finishing the question with a faint tone of voice, raising his head to look at her.

“I believe so.” Sonia stopped in front of her grandmother’s library and took out a dusty, thick book, whose pages had been slightly chewed on. “As far as we know, the only things that can harm a dragon are fairy magic, ice… and another dragon. And it just so happens I know a certain evil dragon…”

The longer she spoke, the softer her voice became, almost like a murmur to her ears only, because the more she thought about it, more ideas were developing in her brain. The train of thought was out of control and there was a whole party in her mind. A loud thump could be heard when she abruptly closed the book, releasing some dust into the air that made her cough slightly. Then, she turned to see Raihan. Her burning eyes screamed nothing but determination.

“Tomorrow morning I’ll travel all the way to Wyndon Castle to speak to King Leon,” she assured, approaching Raihan again. “I have an idea that could save the dragonkind.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I've been in love with this ship for a long time and I had been planning this fic for a month or so. I love writing fantasy and worldbuilding, so I hope you enjoy this little thing I've been excited to publish.
> 
> The AMAZING art at the beginning was made by the lovely artists @LilyTea_art (twitter). It is a commission and they gave me permission to use it.
> 
> As a side note, I want to say that English is not my first language so there might be some mistakes. I'd like to have a beta reader to help me with some things, so if you're interested in beta reading for me, you can message me. The same way, even if I've written fantasy before, this is my first time publishing it so any feedback is appreciated; or if you have anything to say, I'd love to read it.


End file.
